Instrument-attaching device for motor vehicles



'May 12, 1925.

- R. K. JACK l INSTRUMENT AIIAGHING DEVICE FOR MToR VEHICLES Filed May21, 1924 NVEETOR 'ezf mc KTTOR l Patented May l2, 1925.

UNITED STATES TION, OF DETROIT, MICHIGAN,

PATENT ormoni,

A .CORPORATION or DELAWARE.

INS'IRUMENT-ATTACHING DEVICE FOR MOTO'R VEHICLES.

Application filed May 21, 1924. Serial No. 714,883.

To all whom t may] concern.'

Be itknown that 4I, ROBERT JACK, a subject'of the King of 4GreatBritain, and a resident of Lansing, county of Ingham,

and State of Michigan, have invented cer-i tain new and usefulImprovements in Instrument-Attaching Devices for Motor Vehicles, ofwhich the following is a full, clear,

concise, and exact description, such as will enable others skilled inthe art to Wliicli'the invention relates to make and use the same,reference beingvinade therein to the accom'- panying drawings, wlii'chform a part o f this specification.

My inventionrelatesto instrument boards suoli as are used in connectionwith motor driven vehicles to support the 'various instruments wherebythebperating conditions of the motor plant are indicated such, forexample, as pressure gauges for, indicating lthe pressure in theoil'system, the fuel supply system, or elsewhere, electrical instrumentssuch as volt-meters and ammeters for indie-ating the conditions' oftheelectrical system of the vehicle, lthe speedometer for indicating thespeed and distance traveled of the vehicle, as well also as such otherinstruments as may be deemed necessary or vdesirable in and about motordriven vewhich lis away from and isnot seen by the l vdriver of thevehicle) and the dials or faces of thev instruments show through theopenings provided in the instrument board. Ordinarily the casings of thevarious instruments extend through' the openings in the instrumentboard; and the individual' instruments liave'heretofore usually beensecured tothe instrument board byifastening members extending lthroughthe-board so as to show upon the front or exposedv face thereof neXtutothe operator, or by similar holding means secured to the rear face ofthe board adjacent the ,various instruments made use of. f'

The principal object of my invention is to provide anfinstrument boardof the type referred to wherein the securing mea-iis for cealed, so thatno part ofthe 'means wherebythe instrumentsareheld in .place 'shows uponthe front face o f the board. This end l1s attained by providingv asupport in theform 'of a plate located to the rear of the lai-w12" YROBERT iz. JACK, or LANSING, MICHIGAN, Ass'IGNoR To GENERALMo'roR-sCORPORA- board, which support is entirely independent of the board andcarries' the various fastening members whereby the instruments are heldin place. Ittherefore follows that 'the separate and individual holdingmembers for vthe instruments areentirely inde- 4pendent ofthe instrumentboard, and are in fact assembled with and carried by a separate platewhich lis secured in position overlying a' part of the'rear face of theboard. v y l VV'ith the above -'and other' objects of invention in viewmy invention consists inthe improved instrument board -illustrated inthe accompanying drawings, described in.

the following specification, and particularly claimed; and in suchvariations and modifications thereof, within the scope of the con-.cluding claims, as Will be obvious to `those skilled in the art towhich my invention relates. A 1

Referring now vto the drawing accompanying and forming a part of thespeciication, and whereinthe preferred embodiment of my invention isillustrated: 4

Figure l -is a viewshowing the central portion of an instrument boardas'seen by the 'driver of the vehicle, the board being broken away inpart to show the plate upon p the rear side thereof, which supports the,-holdingmembers for the instruments;

Figure 2 is a view upon a considerably enlarged scale showing a sectionupon ,a vertical plane at right angles to the instrument board, and theposition of which -is indicated by the line 2 2, Figure l;

Figure 3 is a view showing a section upon a central plane likewiseperpendicular to the instrument board, and indicated by the line 3-3,Figure l; n

Figure 4 is a fragmentary view showing a section upon.- a planelperpendicular to the instrument board and extending diagonally throughone of the recesses in the plate wherein the heads of the holding boltsfor fastened in place, this .view showing one end of the plate as seenfrom a position at the rear .ofthe instrument board, that is, from theside thereof remote from and not seen by the operator of the vehicle. c

Referring now to the drawings, the reference' numeral 10 designates theinstrument board of a motor driven vehicle, the same extendingltransverse to the opera-tor and being located in front of him as will beappreciated, This instrument board is -commonly made from -a sheet metalblank rbent and` Y shaped .in various ways according to the choice ofthe designer thereof; the board illustrated being lone wherein a flange11 i-s provided at the top which extends toward the driver, and a ange12 at the lower edge which extends away froml the driver and toward theforward end of the vehicle.. The

l instrument board illustrated is embossed to provide a iange 13elliptical or oval Ain form land which encloses rthe space occupiedbyplate fwhich is arranged upon and overlies a portion of the rear face ofthe instrument vboardfand is thus hidden from the operator of thevehicle, and which plate serves primarilyas a support for all thefastening members which'are employed :for holding the .variousinstruments in place within the openings aforesaid. This plate isprovided with a plurality of openings'lS, 19,20 which register withopenings 14, 15 and 16 in the instrumentboard and through which openingsthe casings of the instrument ordinarily extend, as indicated in Figure2. It will be appreciated that whereas only three openingsl arementioned, the numberof' such registering openings in the board andplate will be whatever number-may be necessary to provide Yfor theinstruments to be used in each particular case.4 As a matter of fact sixsuch registering pairs of openings are present in the embodiment of myinvention illustrated. l

' The plate`17 is'illus'trated as struck up or l dished at its centralportion, as indicated at- 21, whereby an oval shaped panel-like portionor section corresponding approximately in area with the section of theinstrument board set off by the bead 13, and overlying said area, isprovided. This portion is offset somewhat from the remaining `part of jthe plate as 'shown in Figures 2 and 3,50 that the portion of the platebeyond the drivers position.

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contact'betwe vthe plate Land the instrument vdished or panel section isspaced .slightly 'away from the rear face of the instrument yboardaboutlthe peripheryA of the plate, as 'indicatedat 22. 'This schemesecuresactual tions of'theztwo, and a slight spacing away' of the platebeyond and outside said sections. The plate 17 is fastened to theinstrument 'board so that the plate and the instrument holding memberswhich it lcarries vwill be held. permanently and in proper positionoverlying the rear face of the board. Preferably thefastening means lforthe plate is l so located that it will not show from the driversposition; and in the embodiment of my invention illustrated ,this end isaccomn .plished by providing'the plateV with upwardly and downwardlyprojecting holding lugs 23, 24 which are bent at right angles at theirends and made to lie in close contact with the upper and lower flange11, 12 of the instrunient board.- Suitable fastening bolts 25 extendthrough these lugs and the flanges whereby, as will be appreciated, theplate 17 is heldin place in such a manner that the holding means do notshow from'the -The plate 17 as hereinbefores'tated serves as a supportfor the fastening means employed for holding the various instruments inplace relative to said plate and, as necessarily lfollows, relative tothe .instrument board. In the form of my invention illustrated theinstruments are heldin place by fastening means in the form-'of bolts 26arranged adjacent each instrument to be' held, two oppositely arrangedbolts being provided for each instrument in the form ofv my inventionillustrated. The heads of these bolts vas shown in Figure 2 are receivedin recesses 27 struck up from the material of the plate y17, saidrecesses being of approxi mately the same sie as the boltheads'serve toprevent the heads from turning as the nuts of the bolts are tightened inthe act of fastening the instruments in place, and h aving 4holes intheir bottom walls through which the bolts pass. The recesses locatednear the central portion of the plate, as will be understood fromFigures 1, 2 and 4:, have parallel side walls, whereas the 'ecessesatthe ends of the plate have side walls which extend at right angles toone another. This comes about because of the location of the recesses'relative toA the periphery of the dished portion 21 of the plate 17;and in all instances they provide walls with which the in place by thebolts through various spel ciic auxiliary devices, the immediate holdingmembers illustrated being in the form U-shaped clips 28 throughv whichsaid` bolts extend. One leg lof each of these U-shaped clips engages aange 29 with which the instrument casings are originally i provided,while the other leg abuts against therefore -not`noticeable- I prefer toprovide means for, holding the rear surface of the plate 17, as clearlyshown in Figure 2 'of the drawing.4 O bviously, however, the particularform of holding member through which the instruments are held in placeby the bolts-will vary with different instruments, and willbeldetermined, largely, by the form'of instrument casing in eachparticular case.

It therefore follows that the entire holding means for the individualinstruments with whilr the vehicle may be equipped are carried by theplate 17 and that no part, element or feature of the instrumentvfastening means can possibly show upon thev face of the instrumentboard which is exposed to the operator. This provides a constructionwherein the exposed face of the instrument board is smooth and uniformthroughout, and in which the enamel cannot become broken or otherwisedisfigured as is the ca'se in instrument boards wherein the holdingmembers for the instruments are attached to the instrument board. Insuch cases if the holding'members extend through the board, theynecessarily show;

and -if they are fastened to the rear portion of the board as by beingwelded thereto, or if in the form of bolts the heads of which whileextending through the board are finished ofismooth, andthe boardsubsequently enamelled.4 then in either case any bending ofI the holdingmembers will tend to and frequently' does crack the enamel,

thus producing the unsightly surface of the instrument board. v

In my improved scheme for fastening the instruments in place, however,no,cracking of the enamel can possibly occur, as the entire holdingmeans for the instruments is carried by a plate which is entirelyseparate from the instrument board but is fastened thereto so as to forma unitary/structure therewith. This vplateis preferably fastened t'o theinstrument board in such a manner that the fastening means does notshow, or at least is not at all .prominentl from the drivers position,asv thespaced fastening members 25 along the upper and lower fianges ofthe instrument board are obviously disposed 4in planes at right anglesto the linstrument board itself, and are the plate 17 and the instrumentboard together independently of the fastening means hereinbeforereferred to 'so that vibration of the vehicle can under no circumstancesproduce rattling by the said `parts striking against one another.Various means may be provided for thusholding the plate and boardtogether, the preferred means illustrated plate and instrument board inengagement at their central portions to'thereby prevent rattling. I

Having thus described' and explained my invention I, claim and desire tosecure by Letters Patent l. The combinationv with an instrument boardhaving a plurality of openings into -which the exposed ends of -varlouslndlcating instrument casings may enter, of a p-late arranged adjacentand overlying a portion of the rear side of said board, and havingopenings arranged so as to register lwith the openings in said board;means for fastenin said plate to said instrument board; ancgl holdingmeans carried bysaid plate for holding instruments in pla-ce within saidopenings.

2. The `combination with an instrument .board having a plurality ofopenin s, o-f a plate arranged adjacent and-over ying a portion of therear face of said board, and

having openings so arranged as to register .with the openings 1n saidboard; fastening means arranged along the upper and lower edges of saidinstrument board and said'l` plate for fastening said members togetheralong their,v edges; and holding means carried by said plate' andlocated adjacent the openings aforesaid forholding instruments in placerelative to said openings'.

3. The combination 'with an "instrument board having a plurality ofopenings, of a.

plate arranged adjacent and overlying the central portion of theA 4rearfaceof said board, and having openings so arranged as to registerl withtheopenings -in said board; fastening means arranged along the' Vupperand lower edges of said instrument board and saidplate for fasteningsaid members together along their edges; and a plurality of boltscarried by said plate for holding instruments in place within saidopenings.

4. The combination with an instrument board having'a plurality ofopenings, of a plate arrangedl adjacent and .overlying the centralportion of the rear face `of said board and the central portion ofwhich` late is cfi'settoward said board so as to ie in1 Contacttherewith, while the peripheral portion thereof is spaced apart fromsaid board, said plate havingI openings so disposed as to register withthe openings in said board; means 'arranged outside said oiset centralportion for fastening said plate andsaid instrument board together;

and holding means carried by said plate'for holding instruments in placewithin said openings.

5. The combination with an instrumentboard having a plurality ofopenings, of a plate arranged adjacent and overlying the central portionof the rear face of said `board and the central portion of which plateis oiiset' toward said board so as to lie in contact therewith, saidplatehaving openings so'disposed as to register with the plate arrangedadjacent and overlying the central portion of the rear face of saidboard and the central portion of which late is offset towardv said boards o as to l 'e in contact therewith, said' plateV having openings 1nsaid openings so disposed as to revister with the board; iipwardly and vdownwardly extending pairs of attaching lugsarranged adjacent the endportions of said plate, and which lugs extend to the upper and loweredgesfof said board; fastening members whereby the. ends of said severallugs are fastened to said instrument board at the'upp'er and lower edgestheremeans .carried by 4said "plateof; a threaded sleeve located withinone of the pairs of re istering openings in said instrument boar andinsaid plate; a nut upon 'said sleeve engaging said instrument board/andplate and wherebyl said members are fastenedl together; and meanscarried by said plate for holding instruments iii place within saidopenings.

7. The combination with an instrument board having a plurality of',openings, of' adjacent .and overlying4 a plate 'arranged the centralportion `ofthe rear face of said board','and having openings so arrangedas to register with' the openings in said board;

recessesformed in said plate and arranged adjacent said openings, andhaving holes 41n thelr bottom walls; bolts extending through saidholesand the heads of which lie within said recesses; holding memberswith which said bolts ycooperate to hold in- .struments in place withinsaid openings;

and means for fastening said plate and said instrument board together. l

8. The combination Withan` instrument boardhaving-a plurality ofopenings, of a plate arranged adjacent and overlying -Athe centralportion of the rear Jface of said board, and havingopenings so arrangedas to register with the openings in said board; recesses formed in saidplate and arranged adjacent said openings', and having holes in theirbottom walls; bolts extending -through said holes and the heads ofwliich'lie within said recesses; U-shaped clips through whichVA saldbolts extend and which clips are so arc ranged as to engage instrumentsand hold,

them in place withinthe openings aforesaid;

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and means for astening'said plateand' said instrument board together.

In testimony. ture.

ROBERT K.'l JACK,

whereof I f aliix signal

